Green Flash Imperial IPA

Brewed by Green Flash Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Vista, California USA

Bottle, thanks Wetherel! Given Green Flash’s West Coast IPA, I was expecting an aggressive blast of hops all over the place. This really wasn’t that. The nose was hoppy, sure, but nothing ridiculous. I got strong orange and pot in the nose with some sweet floral scents. I gotta say, this one is pretty unique for the style. The bitterness hits me in the back regions of my palate, hard. Nothing really strikes me up front. More residual dryness is noted on this one. It feels like garlic on my tongue, but has a lot of citrus flavor. The bright citrus/pine blast I’m accustomed to from this style is morphed a bit here. I found this to be a unique delivery of bitterness with more emphasis on grass, vegetation, and a very, very dry pine needle finish. This one wasn’t that resinous, all things considered. Now, I’m not sure how long this bottle has sat around, perhaps it did lose a bit of its edge. But as it stands, there are very strong flavors of fresh hops that make me believe it can’t be too old. I liked the unique flavor on this one, but thought it could stand a bit more oomph.

(Bottle, thanks to WeeHeavySD) Pours light amber with a small off white head. The aroma is medium to heavily hoppy, medium to heavily malty and a bit ester-ish with tones of orange, tea, lime, resin, lychee, mild mango, hints of flowers, caramel, toast, almond paste, peach, cocktail cherries, cheese, some yeast and a medium alcohol warmth. The flavour is medium malty and medium to heavily hoppy with tones of resin, floral/mild pine, citrus – mostly orange peel, lime and some grapefruit, star fruit, mango, toast and caramel. The mouthfeel is clean, a bit harsh and peppery with a super dry finish. Medium to full afterbitterness with a spicy sting. Some alcohol coming through in the flavour as well. Bitter hops, some light fruits and alcohol lingers. Medium to full bodied. Nice but not super special.

Tried at Green Flash’s tasting room with my friend Joel from work. Joel bought a 22oz 12 pack for $40. I love imperial anything, especially IPAs. This one is average, so the rating is not as high as other IIPAs.

Courtesy of a few different ratebeerians. Dark golden, minimal head. Aroma has a nice floral and pine character up front, but rather weak after that. Flavor much the same, nice balance of floral, citrus, pine, not awhole lot of malt character at all. Re-rate coming soon as I have another bottle.

Bomber. Pours a crystal clear dark golden color with a nice foamy white head and decent lacing. Nose is all grapefruit citrusy hops. Palate is mostly citrus with some pine overtones and a very slight malt background. Finishes with a lingering bitter aftertaste. I liked this one and after some of the crappy foreign pale lagers I just had, this one was a welcomed change.

Bottle thanks to dickinsonbeer for sharing this one. Nice golden color with good size head. Smell was citrus and hops and slight pine. Good flavor of citrus and hops. Very smooth with a very small alcohol aftertaste. Good IIPA.

Bottle from my secret santa. Thanks! I half expected this to be like every other green flash beer I have had recently and have a strong bitter metalic flavor. It did not, thank god. Lots of flowery and citrus hops abound the nose and palate. Very well done double ipa and much better than I remember it. Tasty.

Bomber. My girlfriend is making enchiladas and last time she did this I had the DFH Golden Shower. Those two went great together. I was hoping for similar results with this brew. Since, this was a spur of the moment kind of thing this beer only sat int he fridge for maybe an hour. Pours amber-orange with a small head. Very clear, almost completely lucid. Aroma is very piney hop, with some citrusy hop behind it. Taste is kind of soapy and only lightly oily, pretty light on body and actually not hoppy enough for me (I though i would never see this day). I was hoping for a full on resiny oily hop soup drink. A bit let down but a watery, not left--coast enough of a IIPA. Finishes watery only medium bitterness.